The premise behind X-Men is brilliantly simple: a mutant team who defend the very people that fear them. Devoid of any confusion, it provided a comic book canvas that tackled prejudice, politics, and society at large through the ed magic of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Then, the era of 20th Century Fox arrived. Adapted into a series of hit films in the early 2000s, the studio took liberties with it's source material, mashing timelines and emphasizing otherwise secondary elements of the Lee/Kirby stories. Fans didn’t seem to mind the first couple rides around the block, but the arrival of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) stopped any and all momentum dead in it's tracks.

Panicked to resolve such a franchise killer, Fox hit the reboot button and began digging into the past with films like Days of Future Past (2014) to a happy ending. It’s all fine and dandy to manipulate prior content, but when the director and screenwriter start copping to repeated errors, it’s time to reassess the master plan.

Here Are Screen Rant’s 15 Times The X-Men Movie Timeline Made No Sense.

15. Adamanti-um… what?

2013’s The Wolverine had its ups, its downs, and its outright oddities. The latter category found particular fault with the mutant’s singular skeleton, a gift had been reinforced with adamantium at some point in the 70s. Thanks to the sadistic efforts of Colonel Stryker, Wolverine's bodily weapons became indestructible destruction devices. But all that goes south the very moment Ichiro Yashida hacks off his blades, revealing a jagged pair of bone claws lurking beneath. It was aesthetically uncomfortable, but at least it raised the narrative stakes.

Sadly, this change proves pointless by the time Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) approach Wolverine in a post-credit teaser. Aside from the fact that “grave danger” turns out to be decades away, this prelude to Days of Future Past (2014) invents a world where Wolverine has somehow grown back his adamantium claws! Whether aided by Magneto or outside forces, the viewers are provided no excuse or explanation as to the actual cause. Just a fresh pair of blades chalked up to “curious convenience.”

14. Cerebro Credit

Charles Xavier always seemed like a straight shooter. A sincere, straightforward man who strived to tell the truth and practice what he preached, regardless of the repercussions. As such, it was strange to find out this slice of humble mutant pie enjoys taking credit for other people’s inventions - namely, Cerebro. It’s established in Bryan Singer’s X-Men (2000) that Xavier and Magneto were the co-creators of the device, which served as a mental gateway to the entire world. Xavier, the towering psychological titan of all mutants, was the obvious author behind this thinking man’s machine, and accepting as much made pretty solid sense.

Then, the revisionist confusion of X-Men: First Class kicked in. The origin story opted to break away from the old man’s assured words and grant credit to a young Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), who’s seen working on Cerebro all by his lonesome. Even with Magneto helping rebuild at the end of Apocalypse, this authorship holds true. Either the Professor is slipping in his old age, or he’s mighty pissy that Hank made such a cool toy without him.

13. Mutant Cure Confusion

Poor Hank can’t seem to catch a break. A huge plot point in Days of Future Past dealt with Professor X and his inability to cope with pressure. A sodded mess with scraggly hair and a rotten demeanor, he is a lost soul stranded amidst the mutant school circa 1973. He’s also completely powerless, and able to walk, thanks to the efforts of wonderboy scientist Hank McCoy. In an effort to combat Xavier’s physical pain, Hank a.k.a. Beast invented a serum that suppressed mutant genes altogether, while enabling paralysis to disappear as well.

And yet, no one is more surprised than he when a mutant cure is discovered in 2006’s The Last Stand. Flabbergasted at the thought of such a forward thinking concoction, the big blue brain acts as if he hadn’t invented the same exact thing… three decades earlier. Even with the “altered timeline” card that many fans like to play, this doesn’t apply to events before Wolverine’s arrival - leaving this cure as nothing more than a fumbled case of common sense.

12. Emma Frost Flubbed

Emma Frost (January Jones) first struts her shimmering stuff in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. Playing second-in-command to dapper bad guy Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), Frost’s ability to turn into diamond was a textbook example of how to make a compelling comic book character completely forgettable. Jones’ portrayal wasn’t exactly well-received by longtime fans, who felt her charisma (or lack thereof) was a little too close to the stiff diamonds she resembled. Sharing a fate similar to that of Bolivar Trask in The Last Stand, the adored comic character was seemingly wheeled back into the well from which she came.

Of course, being that no X-Men role is complete without contradictory info, a similar mutant reemerges at the tail end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Spotted as a young woman with the same diamond abilities, the end credits confirmed such an appearance to belong to the one and only Emma Frost. Being that this particular scene was set in 1985, it goes against everything previously established with her adult character in First Class. And if it is fact two different mutants, Fox should've done a far better job illustrating that point.

11. Fake First Class

Again with the dishonesty. This time, Professor X is sharing a moment of poignant reflection with his star pupils: Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Storm. The year is 2000, and director Bryan Singer constructs a scene ripe with emotion, while building a backstory for the team that fans had yet to see. All things considered, it felt sincere when Xavier explains his belief in the trio, stating that they were the first mutants he ever had the pleasure of teaching when he opened his school for the gifted.

We now know this to be utter nonsense, given that the Professor was teaching at least a decade before these three arrived, with what looks to be a seriously large body of young mutants. It’s of minor mention in the original film, but such a blatant disregard for established lore goes a long way in ruining X-Men logic. And seriously, someone’s got to get Xavier under control. Dude’s turned into a pathological liar.

10. Inconsistent Storms

titular villain (Oscar Isaac). Even still, this improved take on the role poses big problems for franchise continuity, in more ways than one.

For starters, Halle Berry’s Storm had not the slightest trace of Kenyan descent - or accent, for that matter. It’s doubtful she would’ve migrated to America, and somehow lost all cultural roots in the span of a decade, but that seems to be the only possible explanation. Secondly, the whole episode with Apocalypse is apparently swept under the rug with Xavier, who instead chooses to lump her in with Cyclops and Jean. Either he’s forgotten another crucial event, or the chrome-domed professor is too bashful to bring it up.

9. Mystique Mistakes

The original X-Men trilogy barely made use of Mystique (Rebecca Romijn). Sly, secretive, and seductive, she wasn’t much more than a lethal sidekick for Magneto, a blue body who could hack into the nation’s national security at the drop of a hat. Her emotional association was sparse at best, spurred by cold shoulder treatment of fellow mutants like Professor X and Wolverine. At face value, it’d be fair to assume Mystique never knew these men outside of being mortal enemies. Of course, face value turns into a facepalm when the prequel films show her to be just as vital to the series as any of her sworn male counterparts.

Not only did Mystique (kinda) save the mutton-chopped mutant in Days of Future Past, she grew up by Xavier’s side for decades! On top of that, the close relationship shared with Magneto in Future Past and Apocalypse is unmistakable, yet he's quick to leaver her behind in The Last Stand. Why? It’s obvious that Jennifer Lawrence enhances the importance of a role, but Mystique’s character progression is so illogical that it's impossible to take seriously.

8. Bolivar Trask, Please Stand Up

The Last Stand really stuck it to the X-Men franchise in 2006. It strived to cram so many characters and storylines into a single overstuffed mess that it only succeeded in tainting the entire saga. As a result, there’s been plenty that Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg (The Last Stand co-writer) have had to ignore moving forward, and none have proven more bizarre than iconic villain Bolivar Trask. Initially portrayed by actor Bill Duke in X3, the Sentinel mastermind was an opportunity that proved more wasteful than it was exciting. For being vital to one of the greatest X-Men story arcs in existence, the dastardly human was far from compelling onscreen.

By the time this sick puppy returned in Days of Future Past, Trask had somehow transformed from the black, 6’4’’ Bill Duke to 4’5’’ to the white little person, Peter Dinklage - a doozy that damn near no one could pretend to ignore. Some fans have even attempted to use the fact that Duke was never directly called Bolivar as proof he could be another “Trask,” though the film's commentary firmly disproves any such delusions.

7. Stryker Struggles

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Days of Future Past is the best X-Men film for several reasons. Continuity is not one of them. Excluding the “bone claw” debacle, the closing scenes are curiously misleading in what they suggest for sequel X-Men: Apocalypse. Unconscious amidst the wreckage of Magneto’s hissy fit, Wolverine is pulled from the river by what looks to be a young William Stryker (Josh Helman). Come to find out, it’s actually Mystique in disguise, and all is well with the mutant team as they alter the past and save a Dystopian future.

Funnily enough, this doesn’t seem to be the case when Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) finally Apocalypse. Wired up and brainwashed as part of the Weapon X program, the savage mutant looks as though he didn’t do too hot in the decade following Future Past. Not only does this contradict the twist ending of the last film, but it also sparks other common sense questions; namely, why has no one bothered to find out where he’s been? Or more importantly, does this mean we can erase the backstory horror of X-Men Origins.

6. Angel

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

They did it again! Someone at Fox should get a reward for the most recast characters in a single franchise, because these X-Men movies are taking it to the next level. Four Horseman is a big fat disservice to the character, who served as one of the X-Men’s founding in the comic books.

Naturally, Angel appears once more in The Last Stand, first as struggling kid, and then as an angry young man eager to his mutant brethren. Played by a troubled Ben Foster, the portrayal once again byed Angel’s source material decency. On top of this, the idea that he was a twenty-something in the 80s, died, and was born again to be the same age nearly two decades later is laughable. It wouldn’t be so bad if the films actually made relevant use of these recycled characters, but each return trip proves equally as disappointing.